1. The Ad hoc Committee of Experts on Roma Issues (CAHROM) held its 10th meeting in Bucharest, Romania, on 27-30 October 2015 at the invitation of the Ministry of Labour, Family, Social Protection and Elderly. The first day (27 October 2015) included a visit to the Romani Cultural Museum in the 6th district of Bucharest, as well as an exchange with the ROMACT National Project Officer and Facilitator, state officials, Roma NGO representatives, academics and artists.3

2. The Romanian state officials, quasi all of Roma ethnic origin, illustrated the high degree of representation of Roma in state structures. In their speeches, they emphasised the important role of Romani culture in fighting stereotypes and promoting role models. The presentation on the concrete implementation of the Joint EC/Council of Europe ROMACT Programme in Romania was followed by a debate in the presence of a representative of DG Employment from the European Commission, who replied inter alia to questions from CAHROM members related to the future envisaged twinning programme between Western and Eastern municipalities under the planned ROMACT3 Programme.

Opening of the plenary meeting and adoption of the agenda

3. The plenary meeting, hosted in the Romanian Parliament, was opened by the Chair (Mr Stanko Baluh, Slovenia) and the Special Representative of the Secretary General of the Council of Europe for Roma Issues who recalled the three Roma and Traveller-related strategic orientations of the Council of Europe for 2016-2019, i.e. to tackle anti-Gypsyism more effectively, to demonstrate innovative models for inclusive policies for the most vulnerable groups, among them women, youth and children, and to promote innovative models for local-level solutions.4 He indicated that these priorities and the accompanying measures were in the process of being translated into a Thematic Action Plan for the Inclusion of Roma and Travellers. The latter could also be used as a fund-raising tool.

4. The Committee was welcomed to Romania by Mr Nicolae Păun, Chair of the Committee for Human Rights, Religious Affairs and National Minorities in the Chamber of Deputies of the Romanian Parliament, Mr Adrian Marius Dobre, State Secretary for Labour, Family, Social Protection and Elderly and CAHROM Member on behalf of Romania, and Mr Ciprian Necula, State Secretary, Ministry of European Funds. Despite progress observed over recent decades, the aforementioned all referred to remaining challenges in the field of access to social rights and education. To mark the 25th anniversary of his election as the first Roma in the Romanian Parliament, Mr Gheorghe Raducanu, ERTF President, was also given the floor. He highlighted the positive example of Romania when it came to Roma representation in state institutions.

5. The Committee adopted the agenda as it appears in the Appendix.

Child/early and forced marriages within Roma communities

6. The Committee took note of the conclusions of the thematic report on promoting gender equality within Roma communities, with a focus on child/early and forced marriages, following a thematic visit to Romania (requesting country), as well as of comments from partner countries represented at the meeting (Republic of Moldova, the Netherlands, Poland and the United Kingdom).5

7. The Committee agreed that the thematic report would be circulated to experts of the thematic group for any factual changes by 14 November 2015. The report would then be circulated to all CAHROM members for endorsement by written procedure before the end of November 2015. Once endorsed, the report would be published on the CAHROM public website and the Committee of Ministers would be informed of its adoption via the Rapporteur Group on Social and Health Questions (GR-SOC).

Human trafficking within Roma communities

8. The Committee took note of the conclusions of the thematic report on addressing and combating human trafficking within Roma communities, with a focus on street children and prostitution following a thematic visit to Albania (requesting country), as well as of comments from partner countries represented at the meeting (Greece, Netherlands, and Romania).5

9. The Committee agreed that the thematic report would be circulated to experts of the thematic group for any factual changes by 30 November 2015. The report would then be circulated to all CAHROM members for endorsement by written procedure before the end of 2015. Once endorsed, the report would be published on the CAHROM public website and the Committee of Ministers would be informed of its adoption via the GR-SOC.

10. The Committee took note of information provided by the representative of the Holy See concerning an International Symposium on the Phenomenon of Street Children and Street Women organised in Rome on 13-17 September 2015 on the occasion of which the Council of Europe delivered a presentation on the specific situation of Roma women and children, as well as of the adoption by the Holy See Pastoral Care of the Road/Street of a Plan of Action in response to the phenomenon of children and women earning a living or living on roads and streets, and their families.6

The role of local and regional authorities for Roma inclusion

11. The Committee heard a presentation from the representative of the Netherlands on the Dutch approach towards complex families with a Roma background.7 The presentation was followed by an exchange of views, discussing inter alia whether this should be regarded as a “new” approach. The Committee suggested that a further debate on this topic could be taken up under the umbrella of the European Alliance for Cities and Regions for Roma Inclusion.

Dosta! Congress Prize 2015 and developments concerning the European Alliance of Cities and Regions for Roma Inclusion and LERI project

12. The Committee heard a presentation from the SRSG for Roma Issues on new developments concerning the European Alliance of Cities and Regions for Roma Inclusion, as well as from a representative of the Congress of Local and Regional Authorities of the Council of Europe on recent developments at the level of the Congress and the awarding of the 5th edition of the Dosta! Congress Prize to the municipalities of Ghent, Reggio Emilia, Kragujevac and Madrid. The Committee also heard a presentation from the representative of the European Union Agency for Fundamental Rights (FRA) on developments of the LERI project (Local Engagement for Roma Inclusion).8

Coordination among international organisations on their Roma-related thematic priorities for the years 2016-2017 and recent developments at national and international levels

13. The Committee heard a presentation from the SRSG for Roma issues on the Council of Europe’s Roma and Traveller thematic priorities for the years 2016-2017 and recent developments at Council of Europe level, including the setting-up of a “European Roma Institute for Arts and Culture (ERIAC)” (working title) and the new dialogue mechanism with Roma and Traveller civil society.

14. The Committee heard a presentation from the representative of the European Commission DG Justice on recent steps under the EU Framework for NRIS and plans for 2016, including the 2015 Commission Communication adopted on 17 June 2015, the European Platform for Roma Inclusion which addressed in 2015 the fight against anti-Gypsyism, and multi-stakeholder co-operation and developments concerning the setting-up of national Roma platforms, as well as acall for tender (EP pilot) for civil society capacity-building.9

15. The Committee also heard from the representative of the European Commission DG Employment about EU 2020 Roma Inclusion Country Specific Recommendations adopted on 14 July 2015, as well as about recent developments and thematic priorities for the years 2016-2017, including the tendering procedure for the programme on capacity-building of civil society and the developments of the ROMACT Joint EC/Council of Europe Programme. Starting with 2016, ROMACT3 would include a new component targeting municipalities from Western European countries to work on the integration of the non-national Roma and on the co-operation with municipalities of origin from Eastern Europe. Activities would include capacity-building of public administration staff in Western Europe and support for exchanges and development of national and transnational projects. Several CAHROM members, including Germany and the Netherlands, expressed an interest in this new approach and requested to include a presentation on the twinning process under ROMACT3 in the agenda of the next CAHROM meeting. The Committee agreed with this proposal.

16. The Committee also heard a presentation from the representative of the European Union Agency for Fundamental Rights (FRA) on its work on Roma, including recent developments on the template of Structure-Process-Outcome (S-P-O) indicators and EU-MIDIS II. The Committee took note that the final version of the SPO indicators would be presented at a future meeting.

17. The Committee took note of the main conclusions of the OHCHR Workshop on the Rights of Travellers, held in Brussels on 30 June 2015, covering Belgium, France, Ireland, the Netherlands and the United Kingdom, presented by the OHCHR Regional Representative for Europe. Remaining challenges include the growing restriction of the travelling lifestyle in law and practice; the lack of understanding of the semi-itinerant character of Traveller culture; the technical rather than self-ethno-cultural definition of who is considered to be a Traveller and, in some countries, the lack of recognition as a minority; and the widespread unchallenged public prejudice, stigmatisation and hostility towards Travellers.10

18. The Committee heard from the representative of the OSCE-ODIHR Contact Point for Roma and Sinti Issues about the (side) events organised in the framework of the 2015 Human Dimension Implementation Meeting (HDIM), which focused on the participation of women and youth in Roma and Sinti communities, on combating hate speech, racism and incitement against Roma and Sinti in election campaigns and on current

human rights challenges in policing Roma and Sinti communities in the OSCE Area. The Committee was also informed about the launch of a new report “Activism, Participation and Security among Roma and Sinti Youth” which gives an overview of the 2014 Belgrade conference on Roma and Sinti youth, featuring six background papers prepared by young Roma and Sinti activists and scholars, and offering important new statistical data on the situation of Roma youth in 12 OSCE participating States, as well as of the recent publication “Teaching about and Commemorating the Roma and Sinti Genocide Practices within the OSCE Area”.11

19. The Committee heard from experts from Bosnia and Herzegovina of the main results of the Concluding Conference of the Decade for Roma Inclusion (2005-2015), held in Sarajevo on 10-11 September 2015, and a short summary of other activities conducted under the Bosnia and Herzegovina Presidency of the Roma Decade. The Committee was also informed by the Secretariat of the Roma Decade about the main findings of the Roma Inclusion Index 2015, which proposes a list of relevant indicators and tests the availability of existing data to measure progress or the lack thereof in addressing the exclusion of Roma according to the Decade priorities.12

20. The Committee received feedback from the SRSG for Roma Issues about the 2nd coordination meeting between international intergovernmental organisations.13 Items discussed included housing rights and the ongoing issue of forced evictions of Roma and Travellers in some member States, as well as the envisaged role of international organisations in the context of the follow-up of the Roma Decade under the stewardship of the Regional Co-operation Council. The item regarding progress of the FRA Structure-Process-Outcome indicators had to be postponed to a future meeting.

Roma youth

21. The Committee took note of the conclusions of the thematic report on Roma youth empowerment and the inclusion of the youth dimension into national Roma integration strategies following a thematic visit to Slovenia (requesting country), as well as of comments from partner countries’ representatives (Belgium, Croatia14 and Serbia).

22. The representative of the Council of Europe Advisory Council on Youth welcomed the CAHROM thematic report as a concrete positive example of double mainstreaming by including Roma youth issues in youth-related policies on the one hand and youth in Roma-related policies on the other. He also presented the Declaration of the Roma Youth Conference (Budapest, 19-22 October 2015), referring in particular to the recommendations to include a youth chapter in national Roma integration strategies and Roma youth in the planning, implementation and monitoring of these strategies/policies, as well as to improve the coordination and monitoring of policies concerning Roma youth among European institutions and stakeholders and monitoring of national policies, e.g. by setting up a permanent working group consisting of Roma youth and evaluating the measures of the Roma Youth Action Plan under the 2016-2017 youth programme.

23. The Committee agreed that the thematic report would be circulated to experts of the thematic group for any factual changes by 30 November 2015. The report would then be circulated to all CAHROM members for endorsement by written procedure before the end of 2015. Once endorsed, the report would be published on the CAHROM public website and the Committee of Ministers would be informed of its adoption via the GR-SOC.

Roma women

24. The Committee heard from the CAHROM Vice-Chair (“the former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia”) and the Secretariat of the main results and conclusions of the 5th International Roma Women’s Review Conference held in Skopje on 6-7 October 2015. In addition, the CAHROM Rapporteur on Gender Quality highlighted that the International Roma Women Conferences organised by the Council of Europe represented a unique forum of debate for Roma women across Europe and that there was no other similar event, on such a scale and with the same geographical coverage, addressing systematically the agenda of Roma women.

She also underlined that, although consultations or workshops tackling Roma women’s issues were organised by various governmental, non-governmental or international agencies, the opportunities to coagulate, steer and promote the networks and agendas of Roma women provided by the International Roma Women Conferences were not equalled elsewhere. She invited both the CAHROM and the Council of Europe in general to keep Roma women issues on their agenda and to mainstream gender through the CAHROM’s thematic work and the planned Council of Europe Thematic Action Plan for the Inclusion of Roma and Travellers, welcoming on the same occasion the inclusion of Roma women among the priorities of the Secretary General’s updated agenda for 2016-2019.

25. The ERTF representative informed the Committee that a first training session on strengthening Roma women’s capacities and leadership skills for achieving greater involvement in politics was organised by the European Roma and Travellers Forum in partnership with Phenjalipe, Grassroots initiative and the International Roma Women’s Network (IRWN) under the framework of the “Making Roma Women's Voices and Votes Count” project. The Committee also took note of the intention of IRWN and Phenjalipe to merge as a joint Roma women’s network, this proposal being one of the outcomes of the Skopje conference.

26. The Committee agreed to keep the issue of Roma women on the agenda of its next meeting and to pay close attention to the gender dimension in the CAHROM thematic visits scheduled in 2016.

Romani history, including the genocide of Roma under Fascist rule

27. The Committee took note of developments concerning the teaching of Roma history in Italian schools following the International Seminar on the inclusion of the teaching of Roma history in national school curricula hosted by Italy in December 2014. The report of that Seminar would be circulated to the Committee once finalised by the Italian experts.

28. The Committee was informed by the President of the European Roma and Travellers Forum (ERTF) that a Conference entitled “Forgotten Voices - The Holocaust of the Roma” would be organised jointly by the ERTF, the International Holocaust Roma Alliance (IHRA) and the Council of Europe in Spring 2016 and hosted by the Romanian Parliament.

29. The Committeeheard a joint presentation from a Romani people/Tater representative and the Head of the Secretariat of the (Norwegian Government-appointed) Committee of Independent Experts tasked with documenting and assessing the previous policies and measures towards the Romani people/Tater (Travellers).15 Having taken due note of the efforts of the Norwegian authorities to look into the past mistakes made during the 20th century in their policy towards the Romani people, and recalling similar efforts made by the Swedish authorities with the publication of their White Paper on unfair treatment, rights violations and other acts against the Roma in Sweden during the 20th century, presented during a previous CAHROM meeting, the Committee invited other member States to consider taking similar actions.

30. In that context, the Committee regretted the recent decision of the Czech Government to reject the Parliament bill on compensation for coerced sterilisation of Roma women and took note of the explanation provided by the CAHROM expert for the Czech Republic.16

31. The Committee took note that the joint Council of Europe/OSCE-ODIHR website on the genocide of Roma17 would be updated soon with recently collected information, including from CAHROM members, and following the recent publication by the OSCE-ODIHR of “Teaching About and Commemorating the Roma and Sinti Genocide Practices within the OSCE Area”.18 Committee members took note that they would receive from the Secretariat in the coming months their respective country information for final checking.

Anti-Gypsyism and non-discrimination training

32. The Committee took note of recent developments concerning national non-discrimination training activities organised in 2015 by the SRSG Roma Support Team in co-operation with the HELP Programme and the Criminal Law Department of the Council of Europe, such as training for legal professionals financially supported by a voluntary contribution from Finland, and held in Bosnia and Herzegovina and the Republic of Moldova (both in June) and the Slovak Republic (September). In addition, an international training for police

officers was held in Italy (June) and a national training for police officers in the Slovak Republic (October). The Committee was also informed by the Secretariat of forthcoming training sessions for police officers in the Republic of Moldova, Spain and Ukraine that would be financed through German voluntary contribution, as well as the intention to organise non-discrimination training for prison staff in Bulgaria and Romania in co-operation with EEA and Norway Grants in the future.

33. The Committee received information about the 2nd meeting of the Council of Europe-FRA-Equinet-ENNHRI Operational Platform for Roma Equality (“OPRE” Platform) to be held in Strasbourg on 3-4 December 2015 and about the creation of the OPRE platform collaborative website which is accessible to the public.19

34. The Committee also took note that the OSCE-ODIHR was organising training for police officers and that an agreement between OSCE-ODIHR and Bulgaria had recently been signed to implement a training programme for prosecutors in Bulgaria. The Committee therefore called for synergies and close co-operation between the Council of Europe and the OSCE-ODIHR.

CAHROM revised Terms of Reference (2016-2017)

35. The Committee took note of changes introduced in the revised Terms of Reference of the CAHROM for the years 2016-2017, including the introduction of “Travellers” in the name of the Committee and the new explanatory footnote. It also took note of the introduction of the inclusion of the European Network of Equality Bodies (Equinet) and the European Network of National Human Rights Institutions (ENNHRI) among the observers, as well as the inclusion of the European Centre for Minority Issues (ECMI) and the Regional Cooperation Council (RCC) among the participants, following written requests received from these four organisations. It also took note of a list of new tasks that include the drafting of a recommendation for the Committee of Ministers on the access of Roma and Travellers to justice and the need to follow the developments of Roma inclusion indicators conducted by FRA with a view of taking into consideration such indicators for all Council of Europe member States, as well as the need to participate in the preparation of relevant activities launched by the Council of Europe, particularly within the “Thematic Action Plan on the Inclusion of Roma and Travellers (2016-2019)” and the follow-up of its implementation.

36. The Committee tasked the Secretariat with circulating the revised terms of reference to the Committee once adopted by the Committee of Ministers.

Update on forthcoming thematic visits and proposals for thematic groups in 2016-2017

37. The Committee took note of the following information:

§ Bulgaria confirmed the hosting of a CAHROM thematic visitto Sofia on Roma health mediators on 2-4 November 2015. Belgium, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Montenegro, Poland, “the former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia” and Turkey confirmed their participation as partner countries.

§ Poland confirmed the hosting of a thematic visit to Cracow on vocational training and education for Roma on 26-28 November 2015. Bosnia and Herzegovina, Finland, “the former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia” and Turkey20 confirmed their participation as partner countries.

§ On behalf of Ireland, the Secretariat confirmed the hosting of a thematic visitto Dublin on the empowerment and participation of Roma and Travellers in advisory bodies and consultation mechanisms (with a focus on Roma youth and women) on 8-10 February 2016. Belgium, Norway, Spain and Sweden confirmed their participation as partner countries.

§ Hungary confirmedthe hosting of a thematic visit to Budapest on testing systems and diagnoses for Roma children with allegedly mild mental disabilities in March 2016.21 The Czech Republic, Poland, Slovak Republic and “the former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia” confirmed their participation as partner countries. The Netherlands requested to join this thematic group as a partner country. The Committee took note that the European Commission was considering taking part in this thematic visit.22

§ Austria confirmed the hosting of a thematic visit to Graz and Vienna on the protection, preservation and teaching of the languages spoken by Roma and Sinti communities (including ways to handle the opposition of certain traditional communities to having their language written and taught) in autumn 2016.23 Finland, Germany, Poland and Slovenia confirmed their participation as partner countries. Bosnia and Herzegovina requested to join this thematic group as a partner country.

§ Spain indicated that confirmation would be given at the next CAHROM meeting as to whether it could host a thematic visit on the empowerment and participation of Roma and Travellers in decision-making bodies and in political life (with a focus on Roma women and youth). Bosnia and Herzegovina, Croatia, the Czech Republic and Romania confirmed their interest in being partner countries. Norway indicated its readiness to join this thematic group.

§ Bosnia and Herzegovina indicated that confirmation would be given at the next CAHROM meeting as to whether it could host a thematic visit on linking anti-poverty and Roma policies through an integrated approach. Croatia, Hungary, Italy and the Netherlands confirmed their interest in being partner countries. Albania expressed an interest in joining this thematic group.

§ Ukraine indicated that confirmation would be given at the next CAHROM meeting as to whether it could host a thematic visit on best practices for Roma inclusion strategies (including measures for solving personal identification documents and improving access to social services.24 Serbia proposed itself as a partner country.

§ Turkey indicated its wish to postpone the hosting of a thematic visit on Roma access to employment to 2017. Poland and Spain confirmed their interest in being partner countries. Bosnia and Herzegovina, the Republic of Moldova and “the former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia” expressed an interest in joining this group.

§ Following a comprehensive presentation on Armenian Gypsies (also called Bosha or Lom),25 Armenia indicated that it did not wish to participate in the proposed thematic group on the situation and needs of Roma, Lom, Dom and Abdal and policy measures towards them, since Armenia had no specific policy towards the Bosha people and addressing their situation on ethnic and social grounds would not be in their own interest. Turkey – which has the four aforementioned groups within its territory - indicated at the meeting that it could consider hosting this visit, should there be no other candidates, although not in 2016. The Secretariat informed the Committee that Georgia would be ready to participate as a partner country. Both Azerbaijan and the Russian Federation would indicate at a future meeting if they would participate in this group.

38. The Committee agreed that the Bureau would examine the list of proposed thematic visits at its next meeting on the basis of new confirmations received during the interim period, seeking further confirmation from countries, when needed, prior to the next plenary meeting. The Committee also took note of the request expressed by the Holy See, CAHROM observer, to be able to join some of the thematic visits.

Elections of the 2016 CAHROM Bureau

39. The Committee elected a new Bureau for 2016 with Mr Branko Sočanac (Croatia) as Chair, Ms Tatjana Andjelic (Montenegro) as Vice-Chair and Mr Ion Duminică (Republic of Moldova) as third Bureau member.

41. The Committee took note of the revised Guidelines for CAHROM rapporteurs.26

Arrangements and proposals for the agenda of the next plenary meeting

42. The Committee took note that Bulgaria confirmed its invitation to host the 11th CAHROM meeting on 26-29 April 2016 under the Bulgarian Chairmanship of the Committee of Ministers of the Council of Europe. Ms Rositsa Ivanova indicated that the location would most probably be Sofia and that a field visit to Blagoevgrad might be organised so as to meet with Roma communities, local authorities and Roma health mediators.

43. The Committee agreed to invite Ms Rita Izsák, United Nations independent expert on minority issues, to the next plenary meeting to present her recent report addressing the situation of Roma. Following a suggestion of the CAHROM rapporteur on anti-Gypsyism and hate crime, the Committee also agreed to invite Ms Lucie Fremlova, British independent expert, to present the proposal to set up a LGBTIQ Roma, Gypsy, Sinti and Travellers European Platform as a result of the Prague Declaration adopted at the First International Roma LGBTIQ27 Conference held in Prague on 13 and 14 August 2015. In addition, she could report back on the results of the project “Every child matters: High quality education for all”, which is a peer-to-peer training of Czech and Slovak teachers on inclusive education conducted by UK teachers from Babington College in Leicester.28

44. In addition, the Committee agreed to propose the following agenda items for its next plenary meeting:

- conclusions of the CAHROM thematic report on the schooling of Roma migrant and Traveller children following the thematic visit to France (5-7 October 2015);

- conclusions of the CAHROM thematic report on Roma health mediators following the thematic visit to Bulgaria (2-4 November 2015);

- conclusions of the CAHROM thematic report on vocational training and education following the thematic visit to Poland (26-28 November 2015);

- preliminary conclusions of the CAHROM thematic visitto Ireland on the empowerment and participation of Roma and Travellers in advisory bodies and consultation mechanisms, with a focus on Roma youth and women (8-10 February 2016);

- initial discussion about a draft Committee of Ministers’ Recommendation on Roma and Travellers’ access to justice;

- review of any follow-up given to CAHROM thematic reports already endorsed by the CAHROM;

- presentation and discussion on the widening of the ROMACT3 Joint Programme between the European Commission and the Council of Europe, with a focus on the twinning process between Western and Eastern municipalities;

45. As regards future working methods, Committee members made the following observations:

- the agenda was often too heavy and not all of the topics, including those of thematic reports, were relevant for all member States; therefore it was suggested to organise parallel workshops to discuss conclusions of thematic visits/reports, although this might require additional interpretation costs for the Council of Europe and renting costs for the hosting countries;

- for plenary meetings taking place outside of Strasbourg, field visits to Roma community settlements should be organised rather than lengthy hearings with authorities;

- written information should be circulated in advance to avoid lengthy presentations and oral statements should be short so as to preserve sufficient time for discussion;

- instead of including a session of presentations from international intergovernmental organisations and observers, a one hour debriefing with CAHROM and all international intergovernmental organisations after the side event could be organised by the SRSG for Roma issues;

- thematic reports and conclusions should be circulated earlier in advance to allow CAHROM experts who did not participate in the thematic visits themselves to consult with the experts of the thematic groups;

- other relevant Council of Europe sectors should be invited to participate in CAHROM plenary meetings, especially when CAHROM thematic reports relevant for their sectors were to be discussed.

46. The Committee requested that the Bureau examines, together with the Secretariat, the above proposals at the next Bureau meeting29 so as to introduce the new working methods as far as possible before the next plenary meeting. Any additional proposals concerning working methods should be submitted to the Secretariat by mid-January 2016.

Adoption of the list of decisions (abridged report)

47. The Committee took note of the oral summary of the list of decisions made by the Secretariat and agreed to adopt the abridged report by written procedure.30

Appendix

Agenda

Field visit: Meeting with state and local authorities, Roma representatives and artists

a) “Contracts” between families with Roma background and local authorities: the Dutch experience
b) Dosta! Congress Prize 2015 and developments concerning the European Alliance of Cities and Regions for Roma Inclusion and LERI project

4) Co-ordination among international organisations on their Roma-related thematic priorities for the years 2016-2017 and recent developments

Side event: co-ordination meeting between international governmental organisations

5) Roma youth

6) Roma women

7) Romani history, including the genocide of Roma under fascist rule

8) Anti-Gypsyism and non-discrimination training

9) CAHROM revised terms of reference (2016-2017)

10) Update on the 2015 thematic groups and visits and proposals for thematic groups in 2016

11) Elections of the 2016 CAHROM bureau and nomination of committee rapporteurs

a) Elections of the 2016 CAHROM Bureau
b) Nomination of Committee rapporteurs on gender equality, youth, children and anti-Gypsyism respectively

12) Arrangements and proposals for the agenda of the next plenary meetings

13) Adoption of the list of decisions

1 This document has been classified restricted until examination by the Committee of Ministers.

2 The terms “Roma and Travellers” are being used at the Council of Europe to encompass the wide diversity of the groups covered by the work of the Council of Europe in this field: on the one hand a) Roma, Sinti/Manush, Calé, Kaale, Romanichals, Boyash/Rudari; b) Balkan Egyptians (Egyptians and Ashkali); c) Eastern groups (Dom, Lom and Abdal); and, on the other hand, groups such as Travellers, Yenish, and the populations designated under the administrative term “Gens du voyage”, as well as persons who identify themselves as Gypsies.

3 State officials included Ms Dana Varga, State Councillor to the Chancellery of the Prime Minister; Mr Adrian Marius Dobre, State Secretary of the Ministry of Labour, Social Protection and Elderly; Mr Ciprian Necula, State Secretary of the Ministry of European Funds; Mr Mădălin Voicu, Deputy of the Romanian Parliament; Ms Irina Cajal, Under-State Secretary of the Ministry of Culture and National Patrimony; Mr Daniel Vasile, President of the National Agency for Roma; and Mr Aledin Amet, State Secretary in the Department for Inter-ethnic Relations. Other interlocutors included Mr Mihai Neacşu, Director of the National Centre of Romani Culture Romano Kher; Mr Constantin Bălăceanu Stolnici, Academic; Ms Sabina Ispas, Academic from the Institute of Ethnography and Folklore; Ms Delia Grigore, PhD., Anthropologist and NGO Activist; and Ms Mihaela Zătreanu and Ms Florina Busuioc, respectively National Project Officer and Facilitator of the ROMACT Programme in Romania. Ms Nicoleta Biţu, Executive Director of the Romani Cultural Museum and Mr Gabriel Petrea, Vice-Mayor of the 6th District of Bucharest, were excused. The meeting was moderated by Mr Costel Bercuş, President of the Federation of Democratic Roma.

4 The presentation of the SRSG for Roma Issues is available in document CAHROM (2015)28 Written contributions.

5 Italy, which was also a partner country, was not represented under this agenda item.

6 See this Action Plan in document CAHROM (2015)28 Written Contributions.

7 The presentation is available in document CAHROM (2015)28 Written Contributions.

13 Representatives were present from the European Commission (DG Employment and DG Justice), FRA, OSCE-ODIHR, OHCHR, UNDP, UNICEF, EEA and Norway Grants FMO and the Secretariat of the Decade for Roma Inclusion, as well as from the Council of Europe (SRSG for Roma issues and members of his Support Team, CEB, and Congress for Local and Regional Authorities).

14 The representative of Croatia also commented on the conclusions of this thematic visit in his capacity of CAHROM Rapporteur on Roma Youth.

15 The presentation is available in document CAHROM (2015)28 Written Contributions.

16 See document CAHROM (2015)28 Written Contributions for the unofficial translation of the response from Mr Bohuslav Sobotka, Prime Minister of the Czech Republic, to the letter from the Council of Europe Commissioner for Human Rights, Nils Muižnieks, concerning the bill on reparations for the involuntary sterilisation of Roma women.

22 The participation of DG Justice has been confirmed in the meantime.

23 In the meantime, two sets of dates have been proposed : either 14-16 September or 19-21 October 2016.

24 In the meantime, it has been proposed to merge this proposal with a thematic group on Roma school mediators and assistants proposed by Portugal supported by “the former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia” and to rename it “CAHROM thematic visit on best practices for Roma inclusion strategies, including measures for solving personal identification documents and improving access to social services and education through mediation”. Poland proposed to join this thematic group in the meantime.

25 The presentation and other background documents are available in document CAHROM (2015)28 Written Contributions.

26 See document CAHROM (2015)25 included in CAHROM (2015)28 Written Contributions.

28 This project implemented by the Roma Education Support Trust (REST) has been financially supported for the past two years by the Council of Europe through Finnish voluntary contributions. More information is available through the online database of Roma-related good practices at: http://goodpracticeroma.ppa.coe.int/en/pdf/291.

29 The CAHROM Bureau meeting has been fixed for 27 January 2016 in the meantime.

30 The present abridged report was circulated to CAHROM members, participants and observers and was approved by written procedure. The CAHROM Bureau endorsed it at its 11th CAHROM Bureau meeting in Brussels on 27 Januay 2016.